Perfidy
by: Sleeping In
they
musta paid her a nice price
she's
puttin on her string bean love
this
is not really happening
you
bet your life it is
tori
amos, "cornflake girl"
CHAPTER 3: Pain In My Hole
"Take a deep breath and hold it in your lungs."
Junior inhaled the smoke just as she told him and felt himself cough. Red laughed at him happily and offered it to him again. He swallowed and grabbed hold of the stick. He tried again, and while the taste was completely foul he pushed it down.
Red got her own and together they sat, inhaling smoke and staring up at the ever elusive stars. Junior used his peripheral vision to look at the woman he was currently enamored with. He didn't know anything about her, save she knew Ryouga and Ranma before. Although Junior had only been in her company for a few hours he knew enough to know that she wasn't going to offer him any information if he didn't ask for it. He steeled his resolve, "Hey, Red?"
The girl turned her head slightly so Junior had a full view of her face and gave him a questioning look. "Well, uh," he began, "I was just wonderin' how you knew them. Ranma and Ryouga, I mean."
Red didn't answer for a long while, her face was impassive but it hinted that beneath the surface there was chaos. She twitched slightly, "In a different lifetime when the land was good, I and them once knew each other well." She seemed to close in on herself after her admittance.
Junior wasn't satisfied though, "I heard them talking once, about this girl named Akane they knew. I asked them about it. They told me to mind my own business, but Ranma looked really depressed whenever I mentioned her name, like he couldn't bare to even hear her name." Red's face turned ugly in her look of anger, "I know of this Akane. They betrayed her. Ranma mostly, but Ryouga helped."
Junior failed to notice that Red's voice wasn't as strong as before; he just wanted to find the answer to his quest about this girl that seemed like a ghost to everyone.
"What did they do to her?"
Red seemed to lose all steam when he voiced his question. She inhaled deeply on her cancer stick. Her hand shook slightly, but her voice became melodious in it's agony, "Does it really matter?" Junior nodded enthusiastically, "Course it does."
"Why," started Red, "so you can justify it? So if it didn't met up to your standards of betrayal then she was just a spoiled brat making drama? Do you just want to know so that way you can scoff at her pain and say that she didn't really deserve anything because of her actions?" Junior flinched at her tone, "N-no, I just wanted to know what she went through. Just so I could have some common knowledge of her."
Red shook her head tiredly. She settled into her seat once more, "It doesn't matter. It happened in the past and should stay there to rot. It has no consequence of now."
Junior didn't really believe her but he knew some things just weren't meant to be discussed. He looked back up at the stars, wondering at their utter brilliance and how they would remain pure in their beauty. He allowed his voice to soften when he told her of his thoughts.
"Even though this Akane had things happen to her in the past, I'm sure she's still surviving today. It must still affect her and it's gotta hurt."
Akane closed her eyes slowly, "It hurts like nothing else."
Junior hadn't heard her.
&&&
Nabiki tapped her nails in a repetitive pattern and Mousse felt himself tense with every click of her perfectly manicured nail. He wasn't enjoying this meeting, Nabiki had a plan that meant destruction for the last standing obstacle, but she wasn't saying a word. Normally Mousse wouldn't really give a flying fuck what she was doing, but the plan included Red and Mousse knew that somehow it would be up to him to save Red from the darkness again after everything was said and done.
Nabiki stopped her tapping, "If I asked you to kill a man, would you do it?" Mousse gave her a strange look and a small nod.
"You wouldn't question my judgment whatsoever?"
Another nod.
Nabiki's smirk widen.
"Good to know."
&&&
Slevin was leading them into a dark corridor and the men following could tell that things weren't going to be getting any better any time soon. Ranma could feel the energy in this place, it was inherently evil. The positive force that most places carried had been drained a while ago and what was left was what made humans the violent, desolate, savage creatures that they are.
Had Ranma been a weaker man, he would have shivered.
Ryouga sneezed and wiped his nose on his sleeve. The air in the corridor was musty and filled with moisture and Ryouga knew he would never forget the odor of the place. He couldn't even begin to describe it.
Slevin took a turn and immediately came upon a door with no numbers nor identification of any kind. Ranma didn't want to know what was behind the door, all he wanted was an escape, but he couldn't leave Ryouga. Ranma didn't even want to fancy the idea that he wanted to fix the damage done and take Akane back into his arms where she belonged. He had stopped dreaming the night he left.
The man behind the closed door could hardly pass as human. His skin had developed a yellowish tint and his teeth could be a new species. Ryouga actually had a problem holding down his lunch for once. Ranma curled his lips in a disgusted look, but otherwise stayed silent.
The man smiled brightly at Slevin and the both of them retreated to a different room. Ranma and Ryouga stayed silent in the nightmarish room. Ryouga started slightly when he realized there was another person in the room. Her hair and clothes were in arraying degrees of disgusting and her eyes were glazed giving Ranma the impression that she wasn't really there.
The men stood awkwardly in the center of the room with the cracked out woman for a full five minutes before the woman made a slight noise. Ranma stayed wary of her and slowly waved a hand in front of her face to test her reaction. Suddenly, she grabbed his wrist before Ranma could even bother to blink and stared at him with complete focus.
"You're the one."
Ranma gave her a confused look. The strange woman continued to hold his wrist in a death grip.
"I'm the one what?"
The woman still gave away no emotion.
"You're the one who did it to her."
Ranma yanked his hand away swiftly and stood to his full height above the woman. Ryouga placed a hand on his shoulder and drew him towards the door Slevin had gone into minutes before. Just as Ryouga placed his hand on the doorknob, the door flew open to reveal Slevin. Ryouga gave his second jump of the night.
Ranma continued his staring contest with the person on the floor while Ryouga dragged him out by his forearm. He didn't stop looking until the door closed behind him.
Once the men were out of the filthy building, Ryouga took a deep breath of clean air. He questioned Slevin in an angry tone, "What the fuck was that man?! That place is full of god-knows-what and you don't even think to warn us?"
Slevin chuckled, "Yeah, the big bad martial artists can't take on a few germs and some druggies. Damn, you guys might mess me up with your pussyassness. Fuck me without Vaseline, you boys sure love to complain. I told you I had to pick something up before hand."
"I don't ever remember hearing you say that!"
Slevin frowned, "Jesus Christ, man. Just chill the fuck out. I got what we need to get underground, okay? I'll let ya see it if ya want, but I don't know if yer motherfuckin' stomach could handle it, pussy-boy."
Ryouga let out a growl and turned to Ranma, "Come on, speak up! You didn't want to go there either. Don't make me the only one to speak up!
"...Ranma?"
Ranma had a strangle look on his face and lifted his head from the ground to voice his thoughts, "I think - I think that was Kasumi."
hides under rock Um...Sorry? Somehow, I developed a life & it kinda took over. Not to metion the fact that my mother kept breaking our computer so we had to keep getting it fixed. Please forgive me for the extended break. I really didn't think it would take this long for this chapter to be released. I have no idea about the next chapter, but I'll most likely have a new story out soon...hopefully.
Oh yes, much, much, much love to my darling reviewers. You all caused such good feelings in my heart after reading the reviews. I'm sending you imaginary hugs & kisses. Thank you!
